4 Rescued in Mali Hotel Attack

By The Associated Press

Aug. 8, 2015

BAMAKO, Mali — The first attack by Islamic extremists in a central Mali town, in which 10 people died, showed that jihadist aggressions are spreading in the country and hitting more directly at the government military and the United Nations peacekeeping force, an expert said Saturday.

Three of the attackers also were killed, and seven suspected militants were detained, the government said. Four United Nations employees were rescued.

Additional United Nations personnel may still be missing, said an official who spoke on the condition of anonymity because of lack of authorization to speak to the news media.

The militants first targeted the army camp in Sevare on Friday, but when they faced resistance, they moved to the nearby Hotel Debo before assaulting the Hotel Byblos, popular with United Nations staff, to take hostages, said a Mali government report, according to the official.

Sevare, a garrison town about 375 miles northeast of the capital, Bamako, is at the heart of Mali’s tourism industry and until now had not been targeted in the attacks more common in the northern towns of Gao and Timbuktu.

“It’s a troubling sign that the armed Islamist groups are intent on stepping up the pressure both on the Malian government and on the U.N. and French presence,” said Bruce Whitehouse, a Mali expert and associate professor at Lehigh University. “They want to show they are not just contained within the north and that they’re not afraid to confront their primary enemies where they’re strongest.”

Whitehouse said the attack was likely intended “to signal all Malians everywhere that neither their government nor the U.N. can keep them safe,” but he noted the rapid response by Mali’s forces.

The attackers may be followers of Amadou Koufa, a leader who has been linked to attacks on Mali’s Army, including a January attack that killed 10 soldiers in Nampala, said Col. Souleymane Maiga, chief spokesman for the military.

The four rescued United Nations employees are two South Africans, a Russian and a Ukrainian who are all in good health, said Radhia Achouri, a United Nations spokeswoman.

In a statement later Saturday, the United Nations said five of its contractors died, including a Malian, a Nepalese, a South African and two Ukrainians.

A version of this article appears in print on , on Page A8 of the New York edition with the headline: Extremist Attack in Central Mali a Sign of Spreading Violence . Order Reprints | Today’s Paper | Subscribe